Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has dismissed reports that the Senate reversed the provision for electronic transmission of election results in the 2022 Electoral Act.
Clarifying the outcome of Wednesday’s plenary, the Labour Party lawmaker said the Senate collectively resolved to retain the existing legal framework for electronic transmission, and that claims of a policy reversal were based on a misreading of what was passed.
“There was no U-turn,” Kingibe said in a statement on her X account on Thursday. “The Senate did not reverse electronic transmission of results as provided in the 2022 Electoral Act. If anyone says we scrapped it, they simply misread what we passed.”
During the session, the Red Chamber considered several proposed amendments to the Electoral Act. While senators opted to keep the current electronic-transmission provision, they rejected proposals for “real-time” transmission and a mandatory 10-year ban on vote buying.
Kingibe said the decision followed an extensive consultative process involving Senate and House committees, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and civil society groups, and that multiple legislative retreats concluded the existing provision was the “cleanest option” for safeguarding Nigeria’s electoral integrity.
